Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Seasons 1-2 (TV, 2008-2009)

Written by David Nolen | 25 November 2009

Synopsis

One day at the Hakujō Academy private school, a second year student, Yūto Ayase, is asked by his otaku friend to return a book for him to the school library. While there he runs into the beautiful, intelligent, popular, and insanely rich Haruka Nogizaka who seems to be acting a little oddly. Quite by accident he finds out that she herself is a die hard fan of anime and manga. Initially dismayed by the discovery of her secret, she is elated to find out that he's more than willing to help her keep it. The two quickly strike up a fast friendship and even more as time goes on.

Fields	USA Info	Japanese Info	Image
Title	N/A	Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu
Alternative	乃木 坂春香の秘密
Dates	N/A	Season One: July 3, 2008 – September 25, 2008 Season Two: October 6, 2009 – December 22, 2009
Company	Studio Barcelona
Creator	Yūsaku Igarashi
Director	Munenori Nawa
Genre	Romance, Otaku, Maid/Butler
Related	Hayte the Combat Butler, They Are My Noble Masters

Review

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu was originally a series of light novels by Yūsaku Igarashi, with illustrations by Shaa with eight volumes so far comprising the set. It has since received both the manga and the anime treatment which is how I came by the series back during its first season. Currently it's in its second season run, and continues the adventures of Haruka and Yūto as their relationship deepens with several near misses and a bit of meddling from some side characters who just want to watch it happen.

But wait, you may be asking, wasn't this series about this ultra popular girl keeping her otaku proclivities secret from the rest of the student body? The answer to which is: err…not…quite.

The story upon initial inspection, being pure fluff, and really it does qualify as a guilty pleasure, actually has a little more for it going on than one would think. One of the most notable features was that, for the longest time, it really didn't mind breaking barriers.

The problem with anime and manga in general now adays is summed up by both the companies who sell the stuff and the attitudes of their primary Japanese consumers over on 2chan. Basically, they want one type of thing, and only that thing. This is another symptom of the sickness that infects a great deal of the fanbase in one form or another, part of which I already discussed in my harem anime rant. They want what's comfortable. Specifically they want their fix of false hope, so they can grind through another few hours of life, and their suppliers are only too happy to deliver season after season. It's no wonder the goddamn bubble blew up so spectacularly in everyone's faces here recently with all the dreck being pumped out, killing both Geneon and ADV, two of the biggest players in the game.

However, for the longest time this particular series was about growth and change potential in a couple of characters. Getting back to Haruka's little problem, a problem I may add that makes her absolutely adorable to us, but once ostracized her in that world, it was quickly revealed what she was to the student body when one of the magazines she reads was discovered and Yūto tried to take the blame for it. She looks indignantly around at the way they're treating him and informs everyone that it's hers, consequences be damned. Rather than being ostracized this time around, the class tended to just shut up and take it; interestingly not impacting her popularity this time around in the slightest. So the series jumped its biggest premise quite quickly. Unlike lesser series, which would find itself ending because the author hasn't got the skill to continue, the story continues now with Haruka outted and with someone to hang out with to help her expand her horizons in her hobby. More importantly though, what we see is Yūto and Haruka growing closer together, and HERE is where they start backsliding into 2chan status quodom that was pioneered by Rumiko Takahashi, who may well be sliding into hackdom herself.

As of this writing, only episode seven of the second season has been broadcast. However, in episode six we had a complete and total refutation of what happened in season one's finale. In that particular ep, in a very touching moment, we have a slight fade/off screen and what was likely an extremely passionate kiss between the two on Haruka's bed before they were interrupted by the voyeurs comprised of two of the Nogizaka's family maids, Hazuki Sakurazaka and Nanami Nanashiro, and Mika Nogizaka, Haruka's younger and quite perverted little sister. It's ongoing gag; they suffer from minor Link Syndrome, in that when they tend to get close, weird shit tends to happen. This however, was taken to the utmost extreme in episode six and crossed from being a gag into straight out cockblocking the audience, not to mention the characters themselves. It should be noted that Haruka, though not overtly aware of it herself, is a little too related to her sister, and as such has been shown that if you simply rub her in JUST the right way, she responds. And by responding, I mean she wants to be kissed, touched, and generally taken as far as a healthy young man like Yūto could take an insanely hot young woman (who, on occasion, quite literally falls OUT of her clothing) like her. That it is Yūto probably lowers her guard enough to actually make all this possible. Problem is, the simple act of kissing him there at the end, after what they NEARLY wound up doing, becomes something of a chore and she only winds up kissing his cheek.

This is the backsliding I was referring to. They've already crossed this threshold, and now it's like, since they don't know what the fuck they're going to do after they kissed (Oh, shit, I dunno…kiss more? Maybe fuck? Oh, they're going to fuck! Scary!) they've ignored what happened at the end of season one, what's been happening throughout, and are beginning to treat the situation like everyone else does…like little third graders in the corner giggling when the word 'sex' is spoken.

Seriously, is there a fucking problem with a scene like this? This is music and poetry; I wanna know what love is, oh you...you take my breath away, beautiful in every way that makes humans beautiful despite and even because of their inner ugliness. This should be shared more, not treated as some to be feared or some weird taboo.

It's something that's making me concerned about this series since it wasn't adverse to changing and growing before. They have a few more eps before this season is done, so they have a chance to salvage this. Keep this in mind, however, that it looks like they may be on the long road back to the 2chan Hell rather than plotting a course of their own.

Outside of that, the story tends to delve into situations of outright surreal silliness of the kind you'd expect to find in Hayate the Combat Butler. Fitting, I'd think, since this season they're parodying the living Hell out of many of the Maid/Butler anime tropes. It's certainly not as prevalent as one would expect to find in an anime of this type, but every so often the story does remind the viewer that it shouldn't be taken all that seriously.

Though I've talked quite a bit about Yūto and Haruka, there's some clarifications that need to be made about their characters I've only alluded to.

Yūto, at first, is the kind of guy who probably has every right to be annoyed with the kinds of behaviors of the typical fanboy, since his friend, Nobunaga Asakura, is what you'd call one of the hardest of the hardcore otaku ever seen. Yūto isn't nearly as devoted…or devoted at all, one should say. Still, he tolerates his friend, in so much as we all have that annoying friend we both love and hate all at the same time. It is in the doing of a favor for Nobunaga that he first runs into (almost literally) and finds out about Haruka's secret. Haruka was so stricken and embarrassed and just moe about the whole situation that it activated every single protective male impulse in his body, and from that point on he was rarely seen outside of her company, much to the chagrin of every single guy, sans Nobunaga (who's honestly extremely happy for his friend), on that campus. By second season, they're so close, that not only does the whole student body know they're a couple, they know it too; though nothing 'formal' has passed between them. Through her he finds that the fandom culture is not so bad, and yes, for exactly the reasons any guy finds that his girl's hobbies are not so bad. He's a skilled homemaker due to his sister and her girlfriend's (yes, you read that right; said girlfriend is also his homeroom teacher…think about that one for a bit) constant partying and living like druken slobs. Occasionally you see it in his character design when he gets out of typical anime school guy clothes, though often in some of the stuff he actually pulls, he's remarkably strong and well built…not to mention has all the signs of being quite tall when he's finished growing. I mention this because it's something they seem to take great pains to occasionally emphasize; such as the time he cradled Haruka, who is likely about ninety to a hundred pounds, in his arms and walked her half a kilometer up a hill. All in all, he's a pretty stand up guy, and if he ever fucks up with the girl he's caught, he needs to be killed in one of the worst ways for fucking up that awesome a sure thing.

Haruka Nogizaka is a straight out Yamato Nadeshiko, or perfect girl, if you will. Even her little secret does nothing more than make her even more perfect to guys like me. She is who a guy like me will never EVER meet or be involved with, because someone else has already grabbed her and is holding on with all his might…as he should be. She has several talents, such as being quite good with academic work and a skilled pianist, but really, her passion is the various anime and manga she follows. Given her experience with some of the students in middle school (who I am guessing are likely not very comfortable at this point, given how her father reacts to perceived threats against her) and the initial disdain of her father himself, she has never really been allowed to stretch into her hobby to see how far she can go and what she really wants out of it. With the situation Yūto found himself in causing her to out herself, and her mother physically reigning in her father (as long as she keeps her grades up), she finds herself now free to go as far as she wants. Watching her grow and spread her wings in this manner is a joy to see. Watching her discover and experience the various aspects of otaku culture is an entertainment all in its own. Through it all, she drags a very willing Yūto with her, whom honestly she loves to death. This isn't all just her dragging him around on her fangirly errands, there is much time spent in other activities as well. In the second season, you see more of that than them in Akihabara. She has her moments of flakiness, not to mention the fact that she's likely a closet sex maniac due to how POWERFULLY she responds to Yūto in several scenes where he holds and touches her. She's a great girl and has chosen a decent guy, and perhaps that's the appeal I find in the series.

Then we have Haruka's yonger sister Mika Nogizaka. Lord, almighty, this girl is scary and even Yūto said that outright. This is the kind of girl who'd get a guy in trouble if she wasn't going to an all girl private school. Hell, it's bad enough, that even without really trying or meaning to, she managed to literally seduce one of her classmates and nearly had her way with the girl to demonstrate how one can act on a date. She's got a sharp mind, a sharper sense of humor, and a budding sex drive that I hope she starts taking birth control for before she finds a guy she really likes and unleashes its fury upon him. She'll tell Yūto exactly how to seduce her sister, and often times, she'll be quite right. She really wants to catch the two in the act and witness it for herself, the little pervert, though who knows how she'd really react if they really DID start in front of her since she has about the same reaction as Haruka to some of the yaoi doujinshi that Haruka once picked up, heh. This sort of character typically delights in getting in the way, but in her case, she's not really trying to…she's just looking for peep show live. Again, who knows what would happen if she actually manages to get that wish.

There's a few other characters to speak of, such as the maids Hazuki, Nanami, and this season which introduces Alice. These three are the primary maids we see in the Nogizaka household, and are typically up there with Mika in trying to catch Haruka and Yūto in the act of something juicy. Honestly, I think they're just looking for gossip material, get a little perverted thrill out of it, and are making sure everything is going well; though they often inadvertently tend to sabotage the situation much to their chagrin. Outside of that, they're quite devoted to and love both Haruka and Mika, and have grown exceedingly fond of Yūto for many reasons. Another set of characters to talk about are Yūto's older sister Ruko and his sister's girlfriend and his homeroom teacher Yukari Kamashiro. And don't tell me they're not like that with each other, considering what they did to poor Shiina in one ep. Both of these girls are straight out alcoholics and tend to make Yūto's life a living Hell he tries to spend as much time away from as possible. On the subject of Shiina Amamiya, I feel so very sorry for this girl. She's a worthwhile girl in every single way, and recognizes Yūto as a guy worth chasing, though she really does not like that about herself. Even she knows at this point that Haruka and Yūto are damn near inseparable, and it's heartbreaking to watch the full realization impact her that not only does she not have a chance, she never did…and wouldn't want it if it'd hurt the two of them. I'm reminded a great deal of Ayase Takako from Midori Days in this regard, though I never found Midori as appealing as Haruka. Both I grew very fond of on personal level (which means you're writing the characters right, heh) and both are great girls, deserving of a guy who can be everything they need him to be, for unlike a lot of girls now adays, they'll be everything the can be for him…and what they have to offer is considerable. Finally, there's Haruka's father, Gento, and her mother, Akiho. Gento you at first think is a total bastard, and in a way kinda is. As time goes on, you find that it's more his overprotective nature and his extreme desire for what is best for his daughters. He truly does love them dearly, and his actions are a reflection of this. However, they do tend to tip into the fanatical range, and it is here we find that his wife, Akiho, is his limiter. It's obvious she loves her husband and her kids, but also that one of her jobs is to keep said husband in check or he'd have the girls locked up towers with armies around them, just to keep them from getting hurt. In this she's not adverse to inflicting physical harm on her husband which then demonstrates who's the one you REALLY have to watch out for in that household. Gento sees Yūto as a threat to Haruka as all fathers do their daughter's boyfriends, and tends to act accordingly. Akiho again, reigns in his excesses and is quite fond of Yūto, rightly seeing him as a guy worthy of her daughter, though I think all applicable threats about hurting her daughter are implied. I expect it was her influence that allowed Yūto to gain entry as quickly as he did into the Servant's guild when he applied to be Toka's personal butler (in an ep you have to see to believe…and yes, her VA is EXACTLY who you think it is…the joke wouldn't have worked otherwise) when he was seeking a part-time job.

The animation is nothing to write home about, but it's also nothing to scoff at either. It's pretty standard, but it's well done standard, and honestly, I have nothing bad to say in that regard.

The background music is standard anime BGM fare; nothing showy or fancy about it. It's the opening and closing themes where the money was really spent in both extremely fluid dynamic animation in the closing of season one, and the really catchy tunes that the female VA's sing for said opening and closings of both seasons.

Overall, I'm enjoying it for the guilty pleasure that it is. It's serious enough that I'm not bored, but light hearted enough that I'm not thinking I'm in the movie 'Titanic'. Even when it delves into the realms of the extreme absurd, I find I'm having a great time. I'd say give it a whirl if you're tired of the same old stuff, and don't want anything too showy or serious. It's not something that questions the meaning of life or saves the world, but it is light and fun fare…and again, a big change of pace from the same old shit. It does however appear to be backsliding, so we'll have to see how this actually plays out; though considering it makes me want to see if it'll play out well, without me actually wanting to turn it off first, is a testament to how good a time I've had so far with the story.

And yes, Shakugan no Shanna is a good series. Go watch it. You'll understand after you've finished season one of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu.